


Dog Days

by ShadowCr0w



Series: Raised a World Away [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Beau is a follower of the Wildmother, Beau is a wolf, F/F, Family Feels, Fluff, Happy Ending, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:15:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27752173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowCr0w/pseuds/ShadowCr0w
Summary: As the Voice of the Tempest, hero of Vox Machine and the wife to tbe Lord and Lady of Whitestone, Keyleth had seen her fair share if weird things in her life and usually, she expected it by now.Still, nothing prepared her for her daughter being turned into a wolf and being carried through her front door in Zephrah, sporting a happy doggy grin.
Relationships: Beauregard Lionett/Yasha, Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III/Keyleth/Vex'ahlia
Series: Raised a World Away [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2029945
Comments: 14
Kudos: 114





	Dog Days

**Author's Note:**

> A silly start of ideas in the cp server led to 6.5ishk of this. Enjoy!

" _ Excuse me! Miss Keyleth, Beau's mama?"  _ Keyleth certainly wasn't expecting to hear Jester's voice suddenly in her head, almost startling her in the middle of dinner with her parents. " _ But we k i n d of have a situation and we could really use your help, so can we have some-?"  _ Her message got cut off, nothing unusual from the little blue tiefling but it only made her worry more because if they were messaging her, then something was wrong with Beau and that was what was freaking her out. 

She stood up suddenly, worrying Korrin and Vilya both were her sudden movements. "Jester just sent me a message, I think something's wrong with Beau." Her worry was palpable which quickly spread to her parents as they both adored their oldest grandchild too and fretted over her as she was an adventurer now. It was nothing new for Korrin, but for Vilya, there was so much she was still catching up on due to all the years she missed out on so many moments. 

"I can get them, bring them here." Vilya offered to Keyleth. "You stay and prepare just in case?" She knew it would probably be easier for her daughter to find Beau and her companions, Keyleth was certainly stronger than she could have ever dreamed she could be but it would be easier for Vilya to sneak out in the middle of the night than the Voice of the Tempest. They all knew it too, "I know you want to go to them."

Keyleth sighed and nodded, "Just, come back safe too if something is wrong. I don't want my daughter  _ and  _ mother to be hurt. I don't want to have to scold both of you." She tried to keep some levity in the situation and got a hug for her efforts before Vilya took off towards where it'd be easiest to get to her family. 

Korrin went over to wrap an arm around Keyleth, hugging his daughter and rubbing her bicep in an effort to stave off some of the anxiety he knew was brewing inside of her. "They will be okay, I'm sure of it." He held her a little closer when she just sighed and leaned into him, murmuring about how she hoped they would be. 

It felt like hours passed since Vilya left but in reality, it was only about half an hour when they heard the soft padding of feet approach their home. They were fully prepared to have to deal with wounded members of the Nein, injuries that their clerics couldn't handle as well as Beau being so grievously wounded due to her infuriating habit of using her body to help defend her teammates. They were prepared to deal with just about anything that came through the door after Vilya. 

Except, what actually came through the door was Yasha, Beau's girlfriend, holding a lanky wolf in her arms with a concerned look on her face. Yasha's face, not the wolf, the wolf had a silly tongue out look on its face and its tail was wagging happily while its legs were sticking straight up and one paw occasionally batting at Yasha's face. It was an adorable brown furred wolf really, with a blue ribbon wrapped loosely around its neck in the shape of a bowtie and bright blue eyes that were-

"Oh my gods, is that Beau?" Keyleth's jaw dropped as she asked that, the sound of her voice made the wolf's tail go from a lazy wag to an overly excited blur before she wriggled out of Yasha's arms. The wolf stumbled at first, as if she was unused to being on lanky wollf legs and if it was Beau, then that would make sense but quickly righted herself and flopped her way over to Keyleth. "Beau?" She asked and knelt down, suddenly getting an armful of excited wolf who was giving her too many slobbery kisses to her cheek and yep, that had to be her daughter currently in wolf form, especially since her human self wasn't with the rest of the Nein. 

The wolf lept into her arms and stayed there, glancing lazily at her companions in order to get them to tell Keyleth what happened. 

Caleb stepped up, "It was, ah, we were testing a new magic with our friend, Yussa and Beauregard volunteered to be on standby should we… accidentally summon anything dangerous. We did not, evidently but there was a cloud of smoke and then-" he gestured to Beau who was still happily snuggling her mother. "We had a furry friend and there was no Beauregard around." 

Fjord stepped in at that point. "We thought at first they'd just been swapped around but Yussa suggested that that might not be the case and we did a few tests to see if Beau still had her memories, at least she can recognize all of us based on name and voice. She let herself be carried by Yasha while Jester contacted you, we figured that if there was anyone who had any idea of animal and natural magic, it'd be something a druid would know." Caduceus made a small coughing noise and Fjord nodded, "Of course, Caduceus asked the Wildmother and from what we know, she agreed."

"And Beau hasn't seen you all in  _ months _ and I know she was excited at the idea of going home!" Jester finished out the rundown of why the Nein had found themselves in Zephrah with their companion and Keyleth's daughter in wolf form. "Well, she's a bit more hairy than you remember but still, she's Beau!"

Keyleth looked down at Beau, still very much a wolf and very much her daughter all at the same time. Beau's head flopped onto her shoulder and one of her ears flicked while she stared back at Keyleth. Her tail beat a steady, rapid beat against the floor before she licked Keyleth in the face again, getting a snort out of her mother. "I say we should go to Whitestone, Percy and Vex would kill me if they didn't see this with their own eyes." Her wife and husband were going to absolutely lose their minds over puppy Beau, the only people who would be worse would be their own children, Beau's siblings. 

"Probably in the morning then?" If it weren’t for the fact that the idea of Beau being stuck as a wolf for the time being was an idea that would be a lot to process, Keyleth would absolutely drop in on them at this hour. She missed her spouses and missed her children even if she’d only really been gone for two days and would be away for five more under normal circumstances. Keyleth kind of smiled at that thought, well, on the bright side to all of this, she’d get to see them a lot sooner! 

Vilya showed everyone to places they could sleep nearby, Yasha and Caduceus elected to stay close to Beau to make sure she was okay. “Miss Jester and Mr. Caleb are capable magic users, but out of the three of us, I have more knowledge of the wild things.” Caduceus explained his presence. It wasn’t a boast, simply him stating a fact that made quite a lot of sense. “Plus, the Wildmother would probably like an update on how she’s doing.” 

Yasha reached out with both hands, cupping wolf Beau’s face and giving her several scritches that the canine deeply enjoyed due to how she just melted into the aasimar’s gentle touch with closed eyes and something akin to a smile on her snout. “Awww…” Yasha trailed off, knelt down in front of Beau and she paid no mind to the fact that Caduceus, Keyleth and Korrin were still nearby, nor the fact that Vilya had returned after dropping the Nein off in rooms they could stay in for the night. “Such a ferocious wolf, I bet you could bite my hand off easily.” She cooed which prompted Beau to playfully bite at Yasha’s hand and slobbering over it as dogs were wont to do, getting a grin in response despite the gross situation. 

Keyleth couldn’t help but smile as well. “She seems softer.” Vilya made the comment about Yasha to Korrin. “I know you haven’t met her yet, but she is a gentle giant. When I was… mind controlled by Vokodo, I remember distinctly how much she loved all the flowers there.” She said wistfully, remembering one of the bright spots despite the years of brainwashing still holding some effect on her. 

“I think the two of them getting their feelings sorted out has helped both of them.” Caduceus sounded pleased about that. “No love like that for me, but I deeply enjoy seeing them grow.” He looked back over to see Beau now tugging on one of Yasha’s bracers, her teeth not actually penetrating the thick leather but digging in enough for them to be caught in an impromptu game of tug of war. 

“Beau.” Keyleth warned her daughter against getting too rough with her girlfriend while in a form that could seriously hurt her. Beau let go of Yasha’s bracer immediately, ears and tail drooping as she slunk over to Keyleth in order to beg for some form of forgiveness for being bad. She giggled at how sad her daughter looked because she knew exactly what Beau was doing, being in an animal form wasn’t unheard of for her non-magic wielding child so she knew how to play it up when she wanted to be dramatic, something Vex said she learned from her uncle Vax. 

Ever so softly, she stroked between Beau’s pointy ears and got a happy little woof from her child who happened to be a wolf at the moment. “Don’t worry, your mom and dad are going to lose it when they see this.” Keyleth promised, thrilled to know what her partners were going to do when they got the rundown of the story.

\------------

In the morning, the Nein transported to Whitestone via the Suntree with Keyleth’s guidance. She paused long enough to say hi to the tree who welcomed her back with a happy, lazy tone that she knew was standard for the old thing. “Where are you going-?” Graced her ears when she was wrapping up her goodbyes with the Suntree and she turned around to see Fjord still next to her, a little blush on his green face and the tips of his ears darkened. 

“Fjord.”

“I’m sorry, but um, Jester saw her favorite pastry vendor.” He apologized, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. Well, that explained where the little teifling went but-? “Then she dragged Caduceus with her and Beau got excited that Jester was excited. Caleb and Yasha usually go where Beau goes and Veth followed suit.” He finally pointed over his shoulder to where Jester was currently purchasing what was likely an ungodly amount of pastries from an overly delighted tabaxi, both of them chattering eagerly as the rest of the group surrounded her. 

Keyleth saw the tabaxi eye Beau warily before tossing her a plain biscuit, the wolf eagerly scarfing it with a little tail wag. “And you stayed behind from your friends? I would have found you.” She chuckled, pushing him along towards the others. 

Jester happily passed Keyleth an apple pie. She raised her eyebrow in response, honestly shocked that she remembered that Keyleth even liked these as it had come up  _ once _ in passing during the last time Beau had been in a strange predicament. There was no reason for her to deny the gift and really, this wasn’t the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to her which was a whole different story. 

The rest of the trek to the castle was peaceful, people waved to them recognizing both Keyleth and the Nein. They almost got sidetracked when a child wanted to go over and pet Beau, but Beau shirked away from tiny hands to hide behind Fjord who gently explained that she was shy and wasn’t okay with pets but the kid could wave at her. Which was adorable to watch because Beau humored the whole thing and wagged her tail, getting a delighted little squeal from the child who quickly left with their mother after some prompting. 

“Keyleth!” She heard Vex’s voice first before her wife crashed into her, clearly delighted to see her so soon when they thought that she wouldn’t be back for almost another week. Keyleth definitely wasn’t complaining about the sudden armful of Vex, nor was she complaining about being kissed senseless by her overly excited partner. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing back so soon?” Vex asked breathlessly, still utterly focused on her and not the rest of the Nein who were sort of shuffling in place at the public display of affection. 

Except for Beau, she went up and shoved herself between her mothers and lightly bit at Keyleth’s skirt and tugged it to remind her the real reason they were there other than to reunite with the rest of their family. Keyleth startled out of her daze and flushed at forgetting completely about wolf Beau, “Um, well, you see-” she stopped and started, now suddenly unsure of how to explain now that she was back with her wife who wasn’t exactly ignorant to magic, but was a little less understanding of shapeshifting than her mother or father were. 

She scolded herself inwardly for that thought, that was completely unfair to Vex and her brilliant mind.

Vex crouched down, heeding her dress and other garments to greet Beau with a delighted little coo over how adorable the puppy was. “Oh you are  _ darling _ ! Where did you come from?” Beau gave a wide doggy grin, wagging her tail faster until it was beating furiously against Keyleth’s leg. Vex buried her hands into the thick fur around her daughter’s neck, still unaware of the fact that this was indeed her daughter and got licked in the face for her efforts. 

“Erm-” Yasha’s chuckle was the first one that Keyleth heard. She narrowed her eyes at the rest of Beau’s friends who were all restraining some form of laughter while Beau herself was trying to glue herself to Vex’s lap, heedlessly seeking out her mother’s warmth despite the fact she was a little different than normal. “Well- If you all would stop  _ laughing- _ ” Keyleth couldn’t help but laugh herself as the situation was utterly ridiculous and she loved every second of this.

“Oh! I didn’t see you all there.” Vex looked up from where she was now sitting on the ground with all of Beau’s lanky wolf form squished on top of her with a smug little wolfie smile curling at her lips. Unfortunately, her presence didn’t distract Vex from the fact that her daughter and one of the most prominent members of the Nein wasn’t among the group at the current moment. “Where is my daughter?” She asked accusingly, a little worried because it was indeed strange to not see her with them. 

Beau whined from Vex’s lap and craned to lick her in the face again as if to tell her exactly where she was and what her current predicament was. They all got to watch as it slowly clicked for Vex that this was Beau, the cuddliness, the blue bowtie around her neck and the suspicious lack of the human monk amongst the group of young adventurers. The look of pure shock was exactly what Keyleth thought would spread across her face but then her face changed, her lips stretched across her face and her eyes crinkled up at the corners. “Oh my  _ gods, _ she got turned into a wolf?”

Percy was less than thrilled to hear about the polymorph mishap that befell their eldest daughter. “Honestly! Irresponsible! You know she has no protections against such magics no matter how powerful she is.” He had his hand firmly on Beau’s neck, not to hurt her or keep her from being near her friends but primarily to ground himself as he fretted over what could have gone wrong with such experimental magic. “And what if it had harmed her? What would you have done then?” His voice was accusing and even from their distance away from him, Vex and Keyleth could tell his heart rate had skyrocketed. 

They quickly approached him, putting their hands on him as Beau slipped away from his grasp to nudge her friends out of the room. Thankfully, they left without much protest and she pushed the door closed with her snout then hurried back over to push against his leg. Percy kneeled, his wives going to the ground with him as he wrapped his arms around Beau’s neck and buried his face in her fur. 

Vex and Keyleth waited for him to gather himself. There were certain things that were hard to recover from for all of them, losing family wasn’t something any of them forgot and Percy had likely panicked the moment he heard this was a result of a spell gone awry. He wouldn’t have meant to gotten so angry with the Nein otherwise, he knew them better than that and knew Beau even more, he knew how much she trusted them so she wouldn’t have put herself in a situation of the unknown if she hadn’t been absolutely certain that her friends could pull her ass out of the fire. 

Percy took a deep breath, a little shuddery and there were some tears in his eyes. “I’m getting too old for this, I think.” He raised his glasses and wiped at his face a little haphazardly. “I’m sorry for yelling at your friends, Beauregard.” His hands were gentle in her fur now and she gave him a soft, understanding look that spoke too much of what she herself had been through.

Then she licked him square in the face, pulling an indignant noise from her father and peals of laughter from her mothers, thoroughly alleviating the tension that had built up in the room.

\--------

Things weren’t normal per se after that, but Percy apologized for being so harsh to the Nein and they all brushed it off as if it wasn’t the first time that they’d been yelled at for something that had gone wrong. If their stories were anything to go by, then that was indeed the reality of the situation and it was somewhat concerning. “You all really have been through a lot, haven’t you?” Vex couldn’t help but want to adopt all of them, really, she blamed her dear partners for enabling her in expanding their family to make up for the ones they’ve all lost.

Beau weaseled her way over to Yasha, nudging her leg to draw her attention down to her while Caduceus answered Vex’s question as he was probably the most comfortable with giving an answer about his own past. “Yes?” Yasha knelt down to see what Beau needed even if she wouldn’t be able to understand her wolfified girlfriend. Luckily, Beau understood this and just jerked her head over her shoulder for Yasha to follow her to somewhere that wasn’t as loud. 

When they were outside, away from the noise that was their families, Yasha sat on the ground with her back against one of the stone walls and opened her arms for Beau to crawl into her lap. After she was settled and snuggled with her head into Yasha’s chest, only then did she start slowly stroking the back of her girlfriend’s neck, knowing that the longer she was stuck in this form the more her anxiety ratcheted up that she’d be like this forever. “I know.” She whispered when Beau whined, ears flattening to her skull when something struck her mind. “You’ll be okay, we’ll figure something out, okay?”

Beau whined and it felt like she wanted to believe Yasha but when you’re stuck in a body that’s foreign to you with no way to take control of what made you  _ you _ , then hope was something you didn’t put stock in. She tried to make herself smaller in Yasha’s arms just to stay hidden from the world around them. It could all wait. That was something she was certain of.

After a little bit had passed and Beau's ears stopped ringing from all of the noise that was new to her highly sensitive ears, Yasha started humming while brushing through Beau's fur. It only helped relax her further, she loved listening to Yasha when she played her harp and the humming was new, something Yasha wasn't entirely confident enough to do with the rest of the group around but she seemed perfectly content at letting Beau hear her low voice come to life.

Beau loved every moment of it.

"We do have to go back in eventually." Yasha murmured softly, stopping her thoroughly pleasing noises to bring Beau back to reality. She was wholly unprepared for the wide, saddened blue gaze that seemed to pierce her soul and the little whine that bubbled up from Beau's throat. Yasha certainly hadn't been expecting this, nor was she expecting Beau to just blatantly  _ beg _ for more quiet time alone. 

They were at a standstill for several minutes, Beau whining periodically and slowly blinking her large eyes to sway Yasha for just a little more private time between the two of them. She caved, helpless to how cute her girlfriend was when she was a wolf who was unafraid to use her charm to sway Yasha into doing what she wanted so she just wrapped her arms around Beau again, her chest warming a little when she snuggled back down with a content huff. 

And when Jester sent to ask where they went, Yasha told her they just needed a few minutes of quiet time.

Her words were punctuated by a snoring wolf.

\--------

Beau padded around after her littlest siblings, pleased to see how Vila was starting to crawl properly with Keton cheering her on every time she got far enough on her own. Velera and Ben were enjoying chasing after wolf Beau, playing in the manner they would with Trinket which was to climb all over her and wrestle with her. She thoroughly enjoyed the sense of normalcy that came with being able to play with her brothers and sisters just like this while everyone else was figuring out a way to reverse this faster than the spell wearing off naturally.

Speaking of Trinket, he had made a few little whuffing noises when he sniffed wolf Beau, confused because she still smelled like Beau but was mixed with whatever a dog smells like. He whined because he knew Beau was supposed to be there, wherever the Nein was, she was bound to be with but no, instead there was a wolf who reminded him of his second best friend and she wasn't around. 

"Trinket, this is Beau. She got turned into a wolf but she's still here." Vex rubbed the back of his neck as she explained what happened to him. He seemed to calm down at that and nudged Beau hard enough to knock her over then playfully smacked at her flank, initiating a chase between the two animals.

Now, Beau was being used as a bed while her baby sister slept happily against her fur and Ben was working on braiding flowers into the longer hairs around her neck. The rest of the de Rolo kids were gathered around in lazy piles, doing various things on their own such as Vesper polishing her practice sword with glee as she waxed poetic about her training and how that was going. Piper was reading while she was back to back with her twin who was listening to Vesper with Velera leaning against Paxton. 

It was a glorious, content scene of all of the kids in one setting.

Until Vesper casually tossed a stick past Beau who perked up at seeing the branch fly by before she tamped down her initial reaction to fix her younger sister with a glare and a pointed look at the  _ baby _ who was still nestled in her soft fur. Her sister didn't seem to get the message to stop, no, instead she got to casually get the stick again, picked Vila up and bonked Beau lightly on the head with the newly required branch.

Now that she didn't have a baby leaning on her and her other siblings moved back to watch the eldest de Rolo children engage in a head to head staring match as Beau resisted every urge in her body to chase after the stick. She would not resort to  _ that  _ level of dumbassery. It was adorable to watch dogs do it but she had standards and they were definitely-

Vesper reared her arm back, poised to toss the stick down the courtyard.

Definitely not chasing-

A grin stretched across her sister's face as she braced her body and as if she were moving in slow motion, she pitched forward and flung the stick away from them while being careful to not upset their youngest sister. 

Beau lost the battle and broke into a dead run to chase after the stick, energy bursting through her body and she caught up to it easily as she resigned herself to the inevitable teasing from her sisters and brothers she was bound to get later. When she picked up the stick, she found that as long as they were laughing from joy instead of at her expense, she didn't quite mind the silliness that was happening.

\---------

A week had come and gone since Beau had been changed into a wolf and suffice to say, she wasn’t handling it well anymore. She’d stayed patient, she waited as wizards of all kinds argued over what to do, she hid when noise became too much, she played and lazed around, but she couldn’t fucking do anything about her state. It was getting to be far too much for Beau to constantly handle especially with the likelihood of her being stuck as a wolf going up more and more as each day passed. 

When she overheard her aunt Allura say that they had no way to reverse this  _ curse _ of hers, Beau’s heart dropped through the floor and she turned around to run straight out of the castle, slipping her friends and family. She could come back later but she just had to get away from all of this, she needed to be able to think somewhere where there wasn’t noise assaulting her senses 24/7. Beau craved somewhere calm and peaceful, so she turned for the frozen forests and just kept running.

She wasn’t certain how long she ran, all she knew was that this felt great, the fresh air and the freedom to go wherever she wanted because of her own four legs and her already exceptional stamina was boosted so Beau wouldn’t run out of energy any time soon. It was wonderful, the colours of the forests were duller to her canine vision but she could see in sharper contrast and she could hear the sounds of nature all around her, greeting her as a chosen of the Wildmother. 

Strange, she didn’t think the Wildmother could connect to her in this form, she’d only talked to Caduceus during her time as a canine but then again, she was a powerful goddess so really, it was anyone’s guess as to what she was doing and why she did what she did. Beau couldn’t say she had tried to commune with the goddess, she still wasn’t sure how this whole… follower thing was supposed to go in all honesty. 

Beau paused to drink from a cold stream, enjoying the crisp water after her lengthy run from the castle. It wouldn’t hurt to try and talk to the Wildmother, would it? Were animals her domain too? They counted as nature and well, despite the goofy paws and newly acquired tail, she was still Beau, that had to count for something. 

She mused for a little while longer before seeking out shelter from the impending bad weather. Beau rolled her eyes at that, of course when she ran off to brood there would be a snowstorm that would likely prevent her family from finding her and would cover up her tracks until it blew over. Luck would have it, she’d turn back into a damn human and freeze to death before she could make it back to Whitestone and have the clerics bring her back then everyone would scold her for being dumb and running away in the first place. She was too much like her father in some aspects, especially when it came to getting herself into situations that could have been avoided if she were a little less moody at times.

Beau would accept the inevitable scolding when she was safe back home, she deserved it. Then again, she knew her family could scry on her and find her position rather easily, so there was that at least. Also, she wasn’t trying to  _ hide… _ just get enough space to think on her own about the situation at hand.

She found a small cave nearby, deep enough for her to have shelter from the elements but not so deep that it would harbor dangerous creatures that could possibly kill her. Beau did do a cursory sniff and search around the area first, just to make sure because you really couldn't be too careful when it came to hunkering down for the night and she wasn't certain how well she could defend herself if some monster or even worse creature than a wild animal decided to creep up on her in the middle of her attempted commune.

Once content that everything seemed in place, she settled down on the flattest part of the cave and closed her eyes. Beau knew how to meditate, she was pretty good at that but unless her time being trapped in a realm with an evil warlock chasing after her counted in some way, she'd never had the chance to seek out a god, they always found her. So maybe she'd get lucky and Melora was looking for her. If she could chuckle, she would because for the first time she was hoping a god was actively seeking her out.

Slowly, the world around her narrowed down to just her own breathing. Nothing mattered past her own existence and her goal, contacting her… patron.

_ Breathe in. _

_ Breathe out. _

_ Breathe in.  _

She felt a gentle breeze swirl around her body that was completely independent of the storm raging outside and a warmth seeped into her bones. In her mind's eye, she saw a little glowing ball of light bounce in her vision as if it was luring her away from her resting spot then it was almost as if her spirit separated from her body, chasing wherever the warm light was going while her present form stayed in the cave. 

Under her paws, flowers blossomed as birds chirped around her while she ran through the physical forest in a more spirit form than she thought she would be in. This felt familiar at least, this sense of magic was similar to the same magic that kept her alive during her year under trial by the Wildmother so she knew she was on the right path with this weird astral projection she was doing. 

" _ Beauregard." _ The familiar voice of Melora stopped her in her tracks when she came to a snow covered clearing. " _ I did not expect you to seek me out. _ " But the tone in her voice indicated that she was far from angry about this new development, in fact, she sounded rather pleased. 

Beau looked around, hoping to see her even though gods were finicky about how and  _ when  _ they appeared to their subjects. She was just delighted that her commune worked, the very first time she ever sought out a god and the one who had chosen her, the one  _ she  _ chose answered her plea for help. The biggest problem now was she had to actually try and communicate what her problem actually was.

A soothing magic brushed along her back and she could feel ethereal flowers bloom down her spine on top of her fur, Beau knew she'd been touched by the Wildmother and she could perhaps even speak now. "I-" Her voice cracked from disuse, a week of nonhuman vocalizations tended to do that to a person. "I need your help. I've been  _ stuck _ as this wolf, shape changing isn't bad but not when I can't get to my old self." 

The wind whistled around her, reminding her of the snowfall and making her even happier with the fact that her physical body was somewhere a little more protected and that her spirit form couldn't feel the changes in the environment. Beau sat down, waiting, she'd already waited this long for her family to figure out something, she could wait just a little while longer while the Wildmother took her time answering. She closed her eyes, just existing in her current surroundings as more of the outside world faded away until it was just her immediate vicinity and Melora's warmth embracing her senses.

She could wait.

She could be patient.

" _ I am sorry I have been unable to help you, my child."  _ The comforting voice washed over her again. A small pause followed the shift in the wind that carried Melora's voice to her triangular ears. She continued shortly after, speaking of wild magic that the wizards had no understanding of nor did her older family, as powerful as they were. Her mother and grandmother, the two druids of the family would crack it soon if Beau would allow her to make contact with them. 

"You're a goddess, why do I need to give you permission?" Beau frowned as much as she could in wolf form. Her answer was Melora wanted to keep this as transparent as possible and that it might calm Beau down more if she believed that she was being truthful with her and not going behind her back to speak with her family. If it were Caduceus or Fjord, it would be different but this matter regarded  _ Beau _ and Beau was the one in a nigh panic attack over the possibility of being stuck as a wolf permanently.

She relaxed, she was glad that that was the reason. Beau thanked Melora for her time and was given a loving pat on the top of her head before ushered away from the clearing, presumably back to where her body was. After getting some surprisingly straightforward answers, Beau felt a lot better about her odds at being human again and just being able to interact with her family normally after even odder circumstances kept trying to interfere with their bond.

Beau couldn't wait to kiss Yasha again, just to be swaddled in her arms and wrapped up in her wings as her girlfriend kissed her within an inch of her life. After that, she wanted to tickle Jester and hug her as tight as she could that it would rival the hug she got from the excitable teifling. She wanted to punch Fjord in his arm and make him yelp before he tried to punch her back with a startled laugh. 

Gods, she even wanted to hug Caduceus and that was something she didn't do, he understood why she was picky about her affections, dictating it was her body and her choice but she did allow him to clap her shoulder affectionately. Then chaos with Veth, hugs and cat snuggles from Caleb and Frumpkin before she was whisked away to be passed around by her parents and extended family. 

Gods, when did she get to be so loved? 

Little two year old Beauregard Lionett knew even then she'd have to fight to survive and fight to keep herself from being hurt. Then she was taken away, something she didn't really understand happened and she ended up in Tal'dorei, then Whitestone when there was a family who knew about curses and secret deals made with hags. She became Beauregard de Rolo, eldest to the third house of Whitestone and the possible inheritor of the Barony when Percy stepped down, if he did before his time came to meet the Raven Queen and bother her uncle Vax. Her parents loved her so fiercely, working her through the early years of her life when she kept tumbling into mishaps and was processing the trauma that she had known all her life until she accepted the softness of her mother, Vex.

A raven cawed overhead, circling around where her spirit was walking before swooping into the cave to find her body still there, still prone and unconscious, barely living as if she was dying even though she wasn't. 

Then, shouting, voices that were familiar to her were thrown in the wind as she saw Jester, Keyleth, Yasha, Vex and Caleb all trudge through the deep snow and the overbearing wind that battered around them and at their skin. Vex was leading the charge, following the raven into the cave before stopping, gasping in horror at the body of her daughter in wolf form. She ran and skid down on her knees next to Beau's body, frantically feeling for a pulse then sighed in relief when she felt one, a little thready but still wonderously alive.

"Come on, come on darling. I know you're having a hard time but please, come back so we can get you to safety." Vex rubbed her body, worried over how cold her fur was as Jester and Caleb quickly set about checking for injuries slash healing her of whatever could be keeping her unconcious. 

Beau closed her eyes, ready to go home and let her family work. She heaved a small breath and-

_ Breathe out. _

  
  


It didn't take long after that for her to come too with a groan and a massive, raging headache that seemed to worsen by the light that was shining in the room where her aching body rest. Before she even realized what she was doing, she raised a hand to her head and grunted, "Can somebody tell the sun to shut the fuck up?" in a gruff voice that startled everyone around her into movement. Beau  _ knew _ she was back when Yasha's lips pressed to hers, tasting slightly like salt water as if she'd started crying the moment that she saw that Beau was back back this time. 

Far be it from Beau to complain about being kissed before her family swarmed her with love and excitement, signifying her dog days were  _ definitely _ over.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, please let me know what you thought or come yell at me on tumblr @ shadowcrow!


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